Carlos Zambrano Ejected, Then Ejects Umpire in Retaliation
Carlos Zambrano Ejects Umpire Mark Carlson and Pinella Has to Laugh
photo by Charles Rex Arbogast – AP
—–
Big Z Gets Ejected, Fun Had by All
Nothing like a classic ejection from a game right? Some people condemn the tirades as “childish” but I say those people are BORE-ING. Moments like Carlos Zambrano’s ejection in the seventh inning of the Cubs vs Pirates game on May 27, 2009 are the type of moments people talk about for years. Will people still be talking about Reed Johnson’s 8th inning game winning home run 10 years from now? I doubt it but I’ll bet you anything that this ejection and tirade by Zambrano will still be coming up in conversation between Cubs fans.
Carlos Zambrano is a firey, emotional player; we all know that. He’s already famous for punching out his own catcher Michael Barret in the dugout in 2007. We’ve seen him stomp around the mound, point at the sky, yell at batters and himself. On this afternoon at Wrigley Field though, Big Z took it too a new level. This ejection became an instant classic.
The Setup
Zambrano is pitching strongly to try and help the Cubs forget about an 8-game losing streak that ended the night before and the Cubs have a 2-1 lead in the seventh at Wrigley Field. Big Z gets into trouble a few times during the game but like a true ace, finds his way out of all the jams. Then the second batter of the inning Nyjer Morgan reaches third on a single and an error by left fielder Alfonso Soriano. Zambrano get the next batter out but then throws a wild pitch to then next batter and Morgan scampers home.
The Incident
Soto runs after the ball, picks it up and tosses it to Zambrano who is doing a good job blocking the plate from the runner. Morgan slides in, the ball and the runner arrive at the plate nearly at the same moment and umpire Mark Carlson calls him safe. Big Z instantly pumps his arm and yells and gets into the face of the umpire.
Here’s where it starts to get controversial. With Zambrano and Carlson having a heated moment, Zambrano appears to begin to back off. At this moment Mark Carlson appears to deliberatly turn towards Big Z, who also turns and a momentary contact occurs. Carlson instantly ejects Zambrano, as is the rule for any player who touches an umpire.
The Tirade
This causes Zambrano to explode! Carlos instantly points his finger into the face of the umpire and yells at him. Then he does a great bit where he appears to copy the umps motion and ejects HIM from the game. Classic! Zambrano appears to even say something like “You touched me, I’m ejecting YOU!” before turning away to storm off the field.
As this is all going on manager Lou Pinella has walked out to try and break up the fight but arrives too late. As you can see in the photo, he arrives too late and can’t do anything but laugh at the whole incident, as you can see in the photo. Lou has experience in these sorts of incidents after all and can sympathize.
It’s important to note that the replays show that although the play was very close, the runner WAS safe.
Zambrano tries to get back at the umpire again and Pinella forces himself between the two and pushes Zambrano back to try and keep things from getting any worse, but there’s only so much “sweet Lou” can do. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild runs out, another umpire comes up to the plate and finally Zambrano backs off and heads for the dugout. But oh now, he’s not finished yet.
Carlos Zambrano launches the baseball towards the bleachers. This causes Reed Johnson to comment later “I was kind of disappointed, I thought it was going into the stands but the wind was blowing in today“. Next he chucks his glove on his way into the dugout. Once in the dugout Zambrano grabs a bat and heads for the… wait for it… the infamous Gatoraid cooler. He hacks at it several times, almost hitting Larry Rothschild who came over to try and calm him down. Zambrano then disappears into dugout exit and we can only hope that Rothschild, who is following him, doesn’t meet the same fate as Michael Barrett did when he dared to follow Big Z down the tunnel.
Illustration by Tim Sauers at from Cubbie Blue
The Aftermath
After the game Zambrano said
”I apologize” Zambrano said. ‘‘I over-exaggerated after that play to throw the ball and do the other things. Hopefully, MLB will review the play and we’ll see what happens. ‘I should have more control of myself in that situation, but I’m a competitor and in the seventh inning, I just wanted to get out of that inning and win the ballgame.”
Unfortunately though, Carlos Zambrano was suspended by MLB six games for “inappropriate and violent actions on the field and in the dugout”. Zambrano did not appeal the suspension, saying “When you make a mistake, when you do something wrong, I don’t have a problem with that. I disrespected [Major League Baseball], and I apologized, like I did yesterday, and let’s move on. I accept the suspension.”
It’s actually kind of surpristing he’s not appealing, just become we’ve become so used to players automatically appealing their suspensions, even when they may obviously be in the wrong. It’s clear that Zambrano overreacted, but some people have argued that the umpire moved towards Zambrano, which would be a clear violation of the MLB rules stating “Umpires are the official representative of baseball on the ball field. It is often a trying position which requires the exercise of much patience and good judgment, but do not forget that the first essential in working out of a bad situation is to keep your own temper and self-control“.
Umpires in the past have been suspended themselves for this sort of behavior. You have to look no futher than an incident with none other than the Cubs own Milton Bradley in 2007. Umpire Mike Winters was suspended for “escalating the situation” by yelling at Bradley and behaving “unprofessionally”. And people wonder why he’s paranoid about the umps?
And speaking of Milton Bradley, what did Mr. “The Umpires are Out to Get Me” think about the incident with Zambrano?
Bradley said: “That was pretty impressive. It was on a Bradley level”.
And some people don’t find this funny?
Go Big Z!
CLICK HERE to Get the Carlos Zambrano No Hitter Statue!
———-
Related Posts
Carlos Zambrano No Hitter Statue
Zambrano Gets 6 Game Suspension, $3000 Fine – Chicago Sun Times
Zambrano Still Hasn’t Learned – Chicago Sun Times
Carlos Zambrano erupts in Cubs’ 5-2 win over Pirates – Chicago Sun Times
Umpires Gone Wild – Bleed Cubbie Blue
MLB begins review of Carlos Zambrano’s eruption – Chicago Sun Times
Paul Sullivan ranks Big Z’s five greatest explosions – Chicago Tribune
[...] Carlos Zambrano Ejected, then Suspended. [...]
[...] up to camp early, 15 pounds lighter, acting focused and talking about how he wants to put his dramatic outbursts in the past for good. Everyone wants a big comeback year from Zambrano, himself [...]